Monday, February 23, 2015

Alright, so here's the deal: an Omani newspaper published a controversial article today accusing big corporations and companies in Oman of “misusing”
their CSR initiatives for publicity and commercial purposes.

So I thought I would try and put things in perspective.
First of all, let’s talk about the difference between corporate philanthropy and
corporate social responsibility (CSR). Let’s all imagine that there’s this huge
pie placed in front of you and let’s call this pie CSR. Take a slice of the pie
and call it corporate philanthropy. Giving back to the community in the form of
financial donations or non-cash contributions such as time, expertise and
tangible stuff is what makes that small slice. Everything else in addition to
philanthropy fall under CSR. In practice, corporate social responsibility deals
with the greater good of the world at large: issues that affect the
environment, consumers, human rights, energy sustainability and many other
topics.

Now back to the main point the article is talking about. Is
it considered a horrible thing for corporates to actually walk around and show
off their donations and contribution to the community? Well this is debatable.
Let’s consider the following points:

Your company/corporation
might be a listed company in the stocks market. In this case, you will have
hundreds (if not thousands) of shareholders and a board of directors
representing these shareholders who are genuinely interested in what you’re
doing to the community.

You want to show your
customers and potential customers that you are a responsible company.
Publishing news about your contribution to the community within reason shouldn’t
harm your reputation or give people the impression that you’re “overdoing” it.

There’s
no easy fix for publicizing any news about CSR and philanthropy activities to
be specific. It’s a case by case decision that the company has to make. Many
factors have to be considered: Is it important? Is the
other party receiving the donations/support even considered or consulted before
publishing the news? Is it so significant and news worthy that people are REALLY
keen to know about?

We sure don’t
want to read about a OR 100 donation that takes half of a front page on a Sunday morning!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

It isn't difficult thinking of things we appreciate or should appreciate more. Yet, I struggled in prioritizing them and talking around them, and hence this post came LONG overdue.

I was going to write something else but then I paused, deleted a sentence or two and started re-writing again. This weekend (it's sunday evening as I write), many events happened on my personal space. I was immensely inspired twice yesterday, received great news in the morning and got an unexpected call from a friend I care for. And so I recognized the precious gift of life! The life I was given and the decision I was allowed to take (and chose to take) in it along the way!

If life was a person, it would look something like this. We choose how it looks like - sorry Mc. Fly :)

Thursday, June 19, 2014

One of the things I really appreciate in my life - and I've been appreciating since 2008 when I started this blog is blogs or blogging.

I'm pretty sure that most of you reading this will find this applicable to you, too. I love the whole blogging concept for it connects you and me with other like-minded and even different-minded people all over the world.

I love the feeling when a blog I follow has a new post. I enjoy going through the bookmarks folder I have for my favorite bloggers. It's a pure joy that I can't possibly describe in a few words. For me, the love of blogging, and what it means to me and my fellow bloggers, is why I’ve been in the game so long. It’s how I’ve met many of my current friends. The finest of them, I dare say.

I don't care about how old blogging has became and how less people are paying attention to it by the day. It's one of the things I will try to keep doing for years and years to come. I know one day I will look back and say "huh, I'm glad I kept writing" :)

Monday, June 9, 2014

Hi! I came up with this blog series idea in a class today where I showed my classmates the weird things I walk around campus with.

In this blog series (that I hope I would stick to), I will list some of the many little things I believe I should appreciate - or keep appreciating. Some of my life's simple pleasures that I often overlook. The everyday ounces of happiness that are right under my own nose.

*this part where My "Favorite Things" song from my all time favorite movie "The Sound of Music" started playing in my head*

The first thing I could think of is *drum rolls*: Lipton tea bags!

[My tea kit during a road trip last summer]

I simply love this tea and prefer it over any other kind of tea - sorry green tea enthusiasts!

The fact of the matter is, tea and I have had some wonderful experiences together and continue to do so. It's not like my life is so dependent on it (Gosh! It suddenly feels like I'm talking about a spouse!). For my defense (not that I have to), I could totally go days without having a sip of tea. But it's just a happy thing that soothes my soul (and my throat, ehm). Oh, Lipton, you're totally my cup of tea! ♡

Thursday, May 29, 2014

I've been reading Levels of Energy by Fredtrick Dodson ever since I finished my Spring final exams. It's been on my reading map for 2014 but I changed my priorities and started with it this summer and left the other books aside. Did I mention that I gifted myself a Kindle Paperwhite? It's the happiest thing that has happened to me in months. I'm so happy and content with my choice. It's keeping me a good company in between classes, in my shuttle rides and during waiting times here and there.

So anyway, the book review! The author of this book talks about levels of energy and consciousness human possess as they go on their life journey. And how each level attracts certain events, emotions and people. He made it very easy to comprehend by linking one emotional state like anger, pride, etc. to each level.

He came up with his own energy scale in which he was immensely inspired by stuff like the ancient tamas-rajas-sattva-moksha model of Hinduism and other similar-in-concept energy and consciousness scales by Abraham-Hicks and Hawkins.

I personally found reading the first levels (up to 200) quite disturbing and emotionally challenging. But then I was massively relieved by reading the higher levels.

As a Muslim in belief, it was interesting to see how he thought mosques have a high energy "the good energy" according to his scale.

Do I recommend the book? Yes, if you are ready. It helps you get a better understanding of self and others. Other people (other reviewers) reported that they witnessed a change in their energy level right after reading the book. I haven't seen a change yet, but it gave me an insight in how to and I probably didn't do much work in that sense yet. I'm a work in progress though.

A friend I was talking to about the book (while reading it) thought the whole energy fields and us affecting and being effected by them is a complete non-sense. Well, to me arguing this is more like arguing that water is H2O if you know what I mean. :)

So that was about it in a nutshell (according to me). I hope you enjoyed the review and again go ahead and read it if you are ready!
Until the next review, bye!